


The Four Loves

by LoganLight



Series: Adrien August [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Asexual Character, Gen, How Do I Tag, Identity Reveal, No Dialogue, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-08-13 09:34:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20172049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoganLight/pseuds/LoganLight
Summary: Everyone knew that when you fell in love your soulmark appeared. The more you loved someone the more intricate it's design. That's how people knew that their love was true.But it was hardly ever as simple as in stories. Most had many soulmarks before finding the one they'd choose to spend the rest of their life with. Some were so inclined that their soulmarks appeared only for true friends.And then there were those like Adrien. Whose smallest spark of affection bloomed across his skin.





	The Four Loves

**Author's Note:**

> It's really more of a soul_mark_ AU than a soul_mate_ AU. 'Cause I've decided I like the concept of soulmarks themselves more than anything else in these types of universes.
> 
> Written for Week 2 of Adrien AUG-reste. Specifically, Day 12: Tattoo. (Yes, I know I'm late.)
> 
> Alix only has a minor role but I'm tagging her anyway.

Adrien knew he wasn't like his classmates.

Most of them didn't get their first soulmark until this year. Those that did get them early were like Alix. Unlike most people her soulmarks weren't Romantic in nature.

Well, to be fair most of his weren't either.

But Alix only had _three._ And that was enough to make everyone gawk at her Platonic Life Partner marks. Usually, someone like Alix would have just the one like everyone else. Making it hard to distinguish it as a Platonic mark.

Kim, Max and Nathaniel were all marked on Alix's skin. Their patterns mostly unrecognizable to everyone besides Alix and themselves. Soulmarks were a private affair, after all. The class was lucky they (mostly) didn't mind. Usually, you only saw the soulmarks of close family members.

Soulmarks started with the outline of a simple shape or pattern. The better you knew someone the more it spread. And the more it changed.

Take Nathaniel for instance. His mark wrapped around Alix's lower left leg. She'd worn shorts specifically to show it off. At first it'd been a simple circle with geometric patterns. The next time she showed it off the circle was bigger with three smaller ones inside in the shape of a triangle. The same symbol Nathaniel had on his chest as the Illustrator.

(Nathaniel was always blushing when she did that. It was the social equivalent of Alix shouting at everyone: _See this? That means he's MY friend!_)

Kim boasted that his mark was the largest and most intricate Alix had. Which, in any other circumstance, would've been the same as bragging about a girlfriend. Good thing everyone knew that wasn't the case.

No, the only soulmark Kim had was for Ondine. Once he understood her feelings a raindrop appeared on his chest. The last hexagons that represented his crush on Chloe finally fading. And Ondine's mark spread in waves. Literally, that's what the pattern looked like.

Because that's how it was supposed to work. The person or people you loved most branded on your skin. The one who'd stand with you through everything. That's why most only had one soulmark. It was hard enough finding _one_ person who complimented you perfectly. Or as perfectly as possible.

Adrien wasn't like that.

He didn't remember when he'd gotten his first soulmark. Or, was it soulmarks? In his earliest memory the yinyang symbol was already on the left side of his chest, a bit above his heart. Both dots of the yinyang were stylized. One as a butterfly, the other as a peacock's tail.

The joint soulmark represented Adrien's love for his Maman and Papa. As he grew older peacock feathers unfurled from the yinyang symbol on his chest. The feathers radiated like sunbeams, barely grazing his abdomen and shoulder. Every "eye of the stars" holding a different image symbolizing something about his parents.

Adrien read about how aro ace people sometimes had more than one soulmark and thought he was like that. Not realizing that Platonic marks didn't appear for one's parents.

He knew he wasn't like Alix once he fell in love with Ladybug. He knew he loved Ladybug because his right forearm was covered in flowering vines.

When Adrien first met her his soulmark was a simple circle below his right wrist. After defeating Stoneheart the circle had become Ladybug's symbol with five spots. The more he learned about her the more his soulmark grew. Vines with different flowers flowed up his arm until reaching his elbow.

Every flower held a different meaning. Even without color Adrien could tell what each one symbolized. There were the obvious ones like the rose, tulip, and lilac which symbolized love. Then the lavender which was his devotion to Ladybug and her devotion to Paris. The chrysanthemum, his desire for honesty, his desire to know who she was.

And they didn't stay. It was a well known fact that you couldn't see your soulmark change. That didn't stop them though. While the rose was usually there in one form or another the others might not be. And new ones might sprout up unexpectedly. Like the hyssop which was sacrifice, both his and hers. And the Black-Eyed Susan which was Ladybug's strong sense of justice.

That's why Adrien checked his soulmarks first thing in the morning. Looking for clues and things his subconscious was trying to tell him. About Ladybug, about his father, about Plagg.

Speaking of, Ladybug was only one of two soulmarks he'd gotten that day. Plagg's mark started as the cat's paw symbol on his Miraculous. Breaking every known law of soulmarks the mark for his kwami _disappeared_ when he willed it to. The lightning spreading from his central back vanishing with a thought.

Adrien knew it was a defence mechanism against discovery but it left him feeling odd. Like one day he'd wake up and Plagg's mark wouldn't come back. He didn't like it.

So, he didn't think about it. Instead focusing on the soulmarks of his left arm.

The first of these was Chloe. Her hexagon on his outer wrist a reminder that he wasn't alone in those days after Maman disappeared. Connected to it by what Adrien affectionately called "Tron lines" was Nathalie's fan and the Gorilla's hammer. Forming a bracelet around his left wrist.

He remembered the day Chloe had become Queen Bee. The hexagon had gained a bee of it's own. And that wasn't the only time one of his marks changed so drastically. Nathalie's fan used to be something else entirely. He couldn't quite remember what, though.

That brought him to the rest of the soulmarks on his left arm. Which he'd termed the "friendship arm".

On his first day of school Adrien gained Nino's simple circle that would grow bigger than Chloe's hexagon. Music notes wrapping his arm in a band just below the first three around his wrist.

Music notes he could _read._ That was the thing about Nino. Out of all of Adrien's soulmarks his was the easiest to understand. Even Ladybug's much larger mark wasn't as revealing as Nino's. Every day a new score. The morning one of Nino's mixes appeared on his arm stood out as one of Adrien's happiest memories.

It didn't stop there. When he'd play video games with Max the binary around his elbow shifted. Rose and Juleka's marks intertwined like light and shadow. Kim's was all over the place; with wings and waves and other things coming out of each other. Ivan's stone supporting Mylene's tree. Alix's clock just below his shoulder. Nathaniel, Alya, even Sabrina, each one of his classmates wound their own pattern around his left arm.

And when his arm had filled up new ones appeared on his left leg. Wahem, Aurore, Mireille, Luka. His skin was getting crowded!

But his left leg still had space when the Tsurugi emblem appeared on his right. That'd been confusing, having Kagami by herself. Then the storm clouds started spreading from her mark and things got even more confusing.

Adrien had _two _Romantic marks. _Two!_ He knew he wasn't like everyone else but he was at least hoping _this _was! Even if you loved two people at once Romantic marks usually faded as the new one grew. That's what happened with all of his friends!

Once their crush on Marinette faded her circle soon followed. That's how it _worked._

Right?

Plagg was no help. He didn't seem to grasp that Adrien didn't _want_ two girls. Just one would do.

Adrien was beside himself at the disloyalty towards his Lady etched onto his skin. But he couldn't get rid of it. Kagami meant too much to him for that to be anything but an impossible task. He tried to wrestle his feelings into a Platonic mold but every new thing he learned about her made the soulmark grow.

Kagami's storm wasn't as big or detailed as Ladybug's garden. Though it was bound to catch up. And since it was on his leg the mark had more room to grow.

Eventually, he accepted what his skin told him. Adrien Agreste was in love with two girls. Even if he'd prefer not to be.

Yet even that didn't consume his thoughts like the one who was missing. She'd been missing since he'd met her. Marinette never showed up on his skin. Even though he expected her next to Nino it'd never happened.

That's partly why he was so nice to her. Okay, he was nice to everyone, but! The point was he didn't know what to do. It wasn't anything to do with her. If Marinette'd been like him Adrien was sure _she'd _have his mark. No, something was wrong with him if his skin didn't show her.

It was a source of great distress for Adrien. Not being able to just look at himself to understand his relationship with someone.

(He didn't know how everyone did it. Even Alix had to deal with her still-not-as-strict-as-Gabriel father and her brother's Asperger's without help from her soulmarks. Adrien admired her for that.)

It wasn't until Rena Rouge's symbol appeared in Alya's mark that he understood. Adrien didn't recognize her but his soulmarks did. They recognized that something about her had changed.

Then Carapace's symbol appeared in Nino's mark and his pattern finally interwove with Alya's. That was certainly a nice surprise.

And it confirmed what Adrien suspected. He'd tried not to think about it since Ladybug was the most vocal about following the kwamis' rules on identities. Even if it was only a matter of time.

Adrien didn't let himself act any differently towards Marinette. Even when Max, Luka, Kagami and the others' soulmarks shifted to include the symbols of their Miraculous.

Until the symbol of the Mouse Miraculous appeared within Ladybug's mark. Which Adrien could've ignored like everything else if he didn't know that Multimouse was actually _Marinette._

... Ladybug was Marinette.

_Ladybug _was _Marinette._

Adrien finally let himself think it... Plagg must've been laughing his tail off.

He had to tell her he knew. It wasn't safe for her not to know. But he wasn't sure if she'd appreciate him revealing himself. No matter how much he wanted to. It had to be as Chat Noir.

They never talked about their soulmarks. Chat Noir flirted constantly but he never brought up _that._ His upbringing had neglected much social and societal etiquette but not soulmarks. One did not ask about such a thing. One was offered such a thing.

Maybe Adrien would've offered to tell her sooner if he didn't keep his soulmarks a secret. His overshiirt always had the sleeves all the way down and the collar up. Besides Father and Nathalie only Plagg knew.

And now Ladybug would too.

He asked her to meet him on the rooftops at one of their usual spots. Ladybug could tell he was serious since she agreed readily. That just left the hard part.

Chat Noir wanted to start off with a lighthearted joke like he always did. But once Ladybug landed on the rooftop it died in his throat. His soulmarks weren't a joking matter. He wasn't like Alix who could show off her handful of marks. Adrien had a more... _conservative _point of view.

So, he started with that. Chat Noir told her how his father demanded he keep his soulmarks hidden. He explained that it would reflect badly on his family in certain circles. That some people still didn't accept the fact that there were soulmarks besides the Romantic kind.

Ladybug's eyes widened with growing understanding. She listened without interrupting even as her breathing accelerated. (One did not refuse the sharing of a soulmark.)

Chat Noir told her about hiding his marks. And just how _many _of them he had. He told her about the joint mark for his parents. He told her about the friends that covered his left side from ankle to shoulder... He told her about the soulmark on his right arm. The one that belonged to her. How it'd grown beyond his expectations; especially considering how much he didn't know about her.

Except he did know her. He knew her favorite color was pink. He knew she stuck her tongue out when she was concentrating on a design. He knew how close she was with her parents. He knew how brave and kind and intelligent she-

Ladybug was panicking. Chat Noir dodged her flailing and grabbed her hands. He called Marinette's name and she stilled.

He told her about someone whose mark never appeared on his skin. How it drove him crazy not understanding why. Not understanding that the reason Marinette didn't appear was because she was already there.

That's why her garden was so lush. Everything he didn't know about Ladybug he knew about Marinette. And the soulmark didn't care about identities. Even Plagg's mark didn't hide when he brought it out.

Adrien started when she called him by name. He'd been so focused on making her understand that he'd given himself away.

Now it was Chat Noir's turn to panic. But she calmed him as he'd calmed her. She squeezed his hands tight.

Ladybug told him of the day they'd met. How his simple circle became the cat's paw of his Miraculous. How she'd assumed it was because he was a fan of Chat Noir.

She spoke of the shadows that swirled like stars around her left shoulder. How they gave her clues and insights about the boy she loved. How the symbols confused her.

Marinette only understood half of what she saw. Or rather, only saw in Adrien half of what she understood of his mark. It spoke to her of deep flaws beneath the surface she hadn't seen. Yet, that only gave her better understanding of the virtues he possessed and the ones he didn't.

Adrien smiled sadly at this. Remembering the thorns that hid among the flowers of Marinette's mark. But she loved him in spite of his flaws. And he loved her too.

They'd mistaken one person for two but now they saw the whole. Seeming disharmony resolved. Adrien burned at the thought of his mistakes being so easily translated now that Marinette knew. And from her luminous blush Ladybug thought much the same.

It wouldn't be an easy task. To find a new balance. To look back with fresh eyes at their shared history. (He wasn't looking forward to explaining Kagami.) But they could do it.

Adrien knew love was hard work. His marks told him that. The ones least managed faded even if they didn't disappear completely. He wouldn't allow that. It was hard enough to see the soulmark over his heart wilt without either of his parents.

He would tend the garden of his right arm. Learn to love Marinette properly, without secrets in the way. They would show the mark their love left on each other's skin. He would point out things about herself she didn't know and she would return the favor.

Despite the dangers of knowing the person behind the mask Adrien was optimistic. It was one of his best qualities. He saw a future full of possibilities. No matter what trials they faced, he knew they could overcome them.

Adrien grinned. He couldn't wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so this universe's Adrien always has long sleeves to hide his soulmarks.
> 
> Stylistically, think Moana for how the soulmarks appear. Well, Moana with more negative space because I don't really like tattoos that look crowded... He says after giving Adrien as many soulmarks as possible.


End file.
